Below is a copy of the feedback I am giving to Beaches directly, which basically constitutes a review of the resort and our wedding experience. Although only a couple of major things went wrong, a bunch of minor nuisances added up to a disappointing trip.

The three people in our party (myself, fiancée, and my mother) arrived Sunday afternoon, May 12. After a day of traveling I was frustrated to receive poor treatment from the Beaches representatives at the airport when my baggage was loaded on a shuttle and I was directed to board without the rest of my party. When I declined and elected to wait for another shuttle with my family, the representatives became hostile and aggravated with having to unload my (one) bag.

Upon arriving at the resort we learned that both of our booked rooms had been upgraded to the Italian Village from the originally booked Caribbean Village. This was very much appreciated. Check-in went very smoothly and we were impressed with the furnishings and cleanliness of the resort in general. The cleanliness and beauty of the resort grounds continued to be an impressive feature throughout our stay. My mother was booked into room 3220 and we were booked into room 3217. As far as I know, she did not have any issues with room 3220. (Note for BDW: after talking to other guests, the upgrade seems to be really common - those that weren't upgraded at check-in were upgraded after their wedding. I never saw the Caribbean Village accommodations, but did not hear much good about them)

Monday morning we arrived, as directed, at the Caribbean Village lobby for the property orientation tour, which was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. After waiting with two other families for an excessive amount of time, we were finally told that someone was on the way. The property orientation tour began around an hour late.

The Ants

Tuesday morning my fiancée and I woke to a bathroom countertop swarming with ants. Realizing that this can be in issue in tropical climates, we notified housekeeping and went about our day. We saw a small amount of ants when we returned to the room Tuesday evening.

Wednesday morning we again awoke to scores of ants in the bathroom. We called housekeeping, who showed up promptly and began spraying aerosol insecticide, with us in the room and without warning to move, remove, or cover our things. Later on Wednesday we noticed ants in other parts of the room, such as the nightstands and television cabinet. We stopped in the Italian Village lobby to notify employees of the issue and were advised that we could switch rooms Thursday, which happened to be our wedding day.

By Thursday we were seeing ants everywhere, including in the bed. We were notified that we would be relocated to room 3340, which was oceanfront. The additional upgrade was very much appreciated, however being our wedding day the move created a high level of stress.

Additionally we discovered, via a mistaken delivery Thursday afternoon, that the issues in room 3217 were not addressed before it was assigned to another guest.

Ants continued to be noticeable in room 3340, although not in the extreme numbers that room 3217 was infested with.

The Wedding

When looking for a destination wedding location, we chose Turks & Caicos Islands for many reasons, not a small one of which was that Brilliant by Tropical Imaging Photography was located there. After choosing Turks & Caicos and Brilliant, we later chose Beaches Resort. Knowing Beaches policy on outside photography, we arranged to leave the resort after the wedding ceremony for a photo session.

Monday morning we met with our on-site wedding coordinator, Comanache (sp?). I filled out a checklist of photography that I wanted during the wedding day, the ceremony, and afterwards. We had not pre-purchased a photography package, but intended to purchase individual photos as desired. The wedding planning went smoothly and we were pleased and left with no questions or additional needs.

Thursday, the wedding day, I paid $90 to have my hair styled in the Red Lane Salon. I ended up with a pretty hairstyle, however it looked nothing like the picture I had supplied to the artist. While walking back to my room my hair began to fall from its updo, leaving me frustrated and disappointed at the quality of work for the excessive price.

The wedding coordinator called the room, as arranged, before the ceremony. At this point I was trying to get ready for the wedding, while arranging our things for the room switch directly following the ceremony. I notified the coordinator that we would be leaving the property after the ceremony for a photo session and her previously friendly persona became very short and rude.

I was called to be picked up from the Italian Village lobby about 15 minutes before the scheduled time. We arrived at the ceremony and I was left waiting in the heat for about 10 minutes because the photographer was not yet there. The music for the processional was full of static. Shortly after the ceremony ended it began to rain and our paperwork table was moved from the walkway to the Schooner’s deck. We were then escorted to our reception gazebo. The wedding coordinator kept things moving like clockwork, however the extremely rushed nature of the proceedings and the distraction of the weather led me to not realize that the photographer had not gotten the photos that were requested on the checklist I filled out several days before. We were left with no pictures with my mother, except for a few candids of her witnessing the paperwork.

After the ceremony we rushed to our room to begin the process of changing rooms. Our additional photo session was rescheduled due to weather, so we remained at the resort for the evening. Upon getting settled in room 3340 we called to leave a message for Comanache reminding her of the room change and also requesting a change in the delivery of our honeymoon breakfast in bed, due to the rescheduled photo shoot. That call was not responded to, nor was one later that day, the next day, nor were Saturday or Sunday calls on different subjects. Finally we did receive confirmation of our in-room breakfast change from a room service representative. The breakfast was scheduled for Saturday at 8 a.m.

Thursday evening we dined at Le Petit Chateau, celebrating our wedding and wishing my mother farewell for her departure the following morning. The evening began with a drink being spilled on me and continued with my husband being served the wrong salad – and then having the server argue with him about what he had ordered. We were extremely disappointed in the quality of the food at Le Petit Chateau, however the inexcusable service really spoiled the evening. Fortunately, our server was replaced at some point during the meal, and we experienced no additional issues.

Around 8:30 Saturday morning the scheduled honeymoon breakfast had not yet been delivered. We called and were told it would arrive shortly. It arrived approximately an hour late, and was not what we had filled out on the order card provided by the wedding coordinator during Monday’s meeting.

Saturday morning we ran into Comanache on the resort grounds and were told that a “wedding bag” would be delivered that afternoon to our room. It was never delivered and follow-up calls Saturday and Sunday were not returned.

Due to our rescheduled off-site photo shoot, we were also forced to reschedule our Beaches wedding photo review. When we showed up at the (rescheduled) time of noon on Saturday, as directed by the wedding coordinator, we were notified that we had missed our appointment. However after some time waiting they found someone to review our pictures with us. The quality of the photography was the biggest disappointment in a week filled with frustrations. If Beaches is going to make it so difficult to use a third-party vendor, they should not be providing such a massively inferior product. In addition to not getting all the photos that were requested, very few of the photos were acceptable in quality and composition. I also found the fact that the employee reviewing the photos with us commented on the value of the jewelry I was wearing completely inappropriate.

Also unacceptable was the wedding coordinator’s treatment of me after learning of our intent to have a third party off-site photo session, and upon our return from said session, being detained at the entry gate for an extended period of time, a common occurrence for competing vendors apparently.

Miscellaneous

Additional points of interest during our trip (both highlights and nuisances):

• We experienced the best food and service of the stay at Barefoot by the Sea. It was a true highlight. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were all terrific.

• The service was friendly. Note: this is not to say the service was good. Most employees greeted questions and requests with a smile and friendly attitude but they did not necessarily answer the question or honor the request.

• Andrew, an Italian Village pool bartender, was one of the few employees who provided exceptional service, specifically, by running to Barefoot to get a liquor that his bar had run out of and generally being personable and helpful.

• We made a reservation at Kimonos and were placed at a table with two other wedding couples and 10 children who were allowed – actually, encouraged – to “drum” on their plates with their chopsticks. This was the only point during our stay where the presence of children at the resort was a negative.

• Upon arriving in room 3340 we did not have a shower curtain. It took three calls over two days to get one.

• In rooms 3217 and 3340 the Diet Coke was not restocked day-to-day.

• In room 3340 the coffee was not restocked past the first day. Also, we were left with no coffee cups. All neglected items were requested by phone and never delivered.

• In room 3340 the towels were not restocked. One day we were left with only hand towels. When we did not receive towels after two calls we were left with having to go to the pool and get beach towels to use in the room.

• A Sunday lunch at Bella Napoli Pizzera took over two hours due to one half of our order being forgotten, then made incorrectly, and finally remade, however this caused us to miss a planned activity.

• We witnessed other guests tipping employees (outside of the salon and areas where it would be expected). The tips were accepted, and seemingly anticipated in some cases.

• The thermostat in room 3217 was not restricted; however in room 3340 the lowest temperature allowed on the thermostat was 72, which was not necessarily a comfortable temperature in the room at all times.

• The Wednesday night twilight cruise was enjoyable, however it should be publicized that it is a barefoot cruise and you will have to leave your shoes in a communal box on the dock.